In November 2013 the Journal of Neuroscience published comprehensive research that said ‘’the new era of neuroimmunology is no longer a field focused on pathologies in which the immune system is thought to attack the brain. Likewise, it is no longer a field in which the immune system should be indiscriminately excluded. It is a field in which the two systems not only interact but also have a mutual dependency”.
In September 2019 the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine summarised the emerging knowledge concerning communication interdependencies between the various components of the vascular system and the brain whereby the dysfunction of any one component affects another and can lead to neurological diseases including multiple sclerosis.
When commenting on what is being learnt Dr Steve Alexander, President, International Society for Neurovascular Disease (ISNVD) summed up MS as follows "the complex pathogenesis of MS can only be appreciated when and if vascular contributions are recognized as a significant part of MS etiology. Indeed, many novel therapies for MS target the mechanistically relevant vascular inflammatory features of these conditions and implicate cerebrovascular endothelial cells as the failing gatekeeper of the blood-brain barrier.
Much more about these important developments, courtesy of the Australian HoriZonsSCAN MS Road Map, is at
http://www.msnetwork.org/bookmarks/chain-reaction.htm
:Peter Sullivan on behalf of Multiple Sclerosis Network of Care, Australia